Let your garden thrive with KCCG’s Sprout Micro Grants

Kansas City Community Gardens is a not-for-profit organization that assists low-income persons and community organizations in the metropolitan area to produce food from garden plots located in backyards, schools, and at community sites. We provide free technical assistance and support to home and community gardeners, community organizations and non-profits on how to grow and increase access to fresh food.

Through the generous support of our funders, KCCG is offering micro grants to community groups and schools to help support their gardening efforts. The purpose of Sprout Micro Grants is to assist community groups with establishing or expanding their capacity to produce food through gardening.  Sprout Micro Grants are for groups serving populations with limited access to affordable, fresh, locally grown food. 

Funding will support

• Soil
• Compost
• Raised beds

 Eligibility (Grants are available to:)

• Community groups or schools who have a community garden or are looking to start a community garden in the Kansas City Metro area. 
• If you are growing food to sell please contact Cultivate KC for more information on grants available to farmers.

Application details:

• You may only apply for one project at a time during a grant cycle.
• Only projects recommended on your site visit recommendation form are eligible.
• The total amount of funding awarded to a garden may not exceed $2,000 over the grant cycle.
• The Sprout grant will NOT fund: Salaries, KCCG membership fees, water bills, seeds and plants, greenhouses, gazebos and shade structures, picnic tables, straw and mulch.

Application Process

1. Complete a current KCCG Community Partner Garden or Schoolyard Garden application.
2. Schedule a site visit, by selecting yes below, note a site visit is required for all applicants. The site visit will be scheduled at a mutually convenient time.  We will meet you at your garden site to learn more about the goals of your garden and assess your garden’s needs.
3. Once your site visit is completed, we will email you a copy of your site visit recommendation form, a garden cost estimate, and a Sprout Micro Grant application. You may only apply for funding for one of the recommendations on this form, per grant cycle.
4. Fill out and submit the Sprout Micro Grant online application and budget.
5. Upload three letters of reference/support from garden participants (these references may not be relatives of the applicant) to your online application. For example: letters of reference/support can be from your neighborhood association, a community gardener, school administrator, or a faith-based organization.

Deadlines: Sprout Grant funding cycles vary, but typically fall into the October 1 - March 1 timeframe. Please contact cpg@kccg.org or syg@kccg.org for more information on deadlines and eligibility.

Grant review process:

Your grant will be submitted to and reviewed by a grant review committee. We will notify you, within 5 weeks of the application deadline, with details of the committee’s decision.

If a grant is awarded, you will need to:

1. Sign the Garden Cost Estimate stating that you will use the grant funds as presented in the site visit follow up and Garden Cost Estimate.
2. Determine a mutually agreed upon time to carry out the project.
3. Meet with a KCCG staff member at your garden sometime between 4 and 6 months of the grant being awarded. (We also strongly encourage that you use us for additional technical assistance and support during your implementation of the funded project.)
4. Project must be completed within 12 months of the grant agreement signing. The final report including photos is due within 14 months of the grant agreement signing.

If you apply and your proposal is not funded, you may be eligible to reapply after consultation with a member of KCCG’s staff.